We are leaders in interesting times, indeed. In the past year, I have tracked chaotic events, taking notes to share. I found that chaos took many forms throughout this journey, but the leadership response was typical in these incidents.
Extreme weather challenges
The 2024 chaos list starts with the weather. The news channels were filled with scenes of flooding damage as weather patterns changed, causing evacuations and revealing huge issues with homeowners’ insurance.
Leadership stepped up, with the governors of affected states taking fast action and coordinating a multi-state response. Their actions calmed the chaos and saved lives.
Tech turbulence and economic resilience
Summer 2024 brought tech industry chaos, layoffs, and market volatility. AI started impacting the tech industry, triggering layoffs in larger software organizations that drove a downturn in the stock market.
This chaos, combined with a spike in inflation, triggered fears of a possible economic crisis. The Federal Reserve Bank stepped up and took a decisive leadership role in calming the chaos by raising interest rates and implementing monetary policies to stabilize markets and put the brakes on inflation. It worked—chaos receded and prevented the tech sector’s troubles from spreading to the broader economy.
I could go on, and my list does. But what can we do to quiet the chaos coming in 2025? How can we continue solving the talent shortage with headwinds building?
Preparing for future workforce challenges
I am still pondering what may happen in 2025, but I will make a broad observation: The talent marketplace will likely worsen before it gets better. It will become more competitive and constrained, requiring innovative solutions to maintain productivity and growth in the face of governmental policy changes. Acting now will help you retain a sustainable workforce to survive the talent shortage.
Strategic approaches to talent management
What to do? To address these unknowns, leaders across all sectors will, where appropriate:
Develop robust training and apprenticeship programs. Rather than cutting, now is the time to invest in and build training programs. Look beyond the chaos and align training with future needs. Go back to basics—collaborate with local trade organizations or community colleges for apprenticeships.
As a helpful tool, a lot of development was done during COVID-19 by training professionals with e-learning to share scalable training. A solid training pipeline helps reduce the chaos in two ways: It prepares new hires and boosts morale among current employees seeking growth in turbulent times.
Partner with external education resources to develop tailored learning. Engage local colleges by participating in advisory opportunities, communicating the specific skills your organization needs, and guiding the development of programs.
To create engaging experiences for students, offer internships, have staff as guest lecturers, and offer company visits. Leaders can also collaborate on research projects, further embedding the organization in the learning environment.
Become more aggressive in using retention strategies to keep existing talent. Review past articles in this series—retention has been a constant topic. Provide clear paths for internal mobility and regular feedback sessions to show employees that their growth matters.
Leaders should anticipate that the coming chaos will cause burnout, and therefore, they should strengthen well-being programs and offer manageable workloads. Leadership that listens builds a powerful sense of belonging and balance. Monitor retention rates and change strategies to ensure alignment with employee expectations.
When possible, invest heavily in automation and technology to offset labor shortages. This approach does not apply to all tasks, but where possible, prioritize automation by identifying repetitive, low-value tasks that can be streamlined with technology. AI is maturing and can be a game changer in productivity.
A good place to start is a workflow audit to pinpoint inefficiencies and then find industry-specific solutions. Understand that looking for “best practice” clues in other industries will be difficult during chaos. Communicate with existing staff how technology enhances jobs, rather than replaces workers, to maintain morale.
Explore remote work options to access talent from a broader geographical area. A distributed workforce can be a strength if leadership listens and management practices intentional communication.
Reexamine the work to be done, define roles suitable for remote work, and adjust hiring practices to target broader regions. Train managers and teams to thrive in virtual environments, focusing on communication, listening, and trust-building.
Call to action: Leadership in uncertain times
Your call to action is simple: Get ready now. The new administration’s projected economic policies will likely significantly impact the talent marketplace across various industries in North America. A storm of chaos is coming, and forward-thinking leadership is exactly what your organization will need. Build your leadership skills, reduce your fears, and continue your work to solve talent shortages.
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